The Alberta government will propose a southern route for its new oil pipeline to the West Coast, relenting on its insistence that a conduit to the Pacific be routed to B.C.’s northern coast, three government and industry sources say. Alberta Premier Danielle Smith has said from the start of the planning that the new, one-million-barrel-a-day pipeline should run to a...
British Columbia and the federal government have unveiled a multibillion-dollar agreement that will maintain the northern oil tanker ban, eliminating the possibility of an oil pipeline from Alberta to B.C.'s northern coast. But the memorandum of understanding unveiled by Prime Minister Mark Carney and Premier David Eby in Vancouver on Thursday also acknowledges Canada’s agreement with Alberta on a trans-provincial...
Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith are set to hold a joint news conference today in Calgary on a proposed pipeline project. Smith had set a July 1 deadline to submit a proposal for a new pipeline to the federal major projects office for possible fast tracking under Carney’s national building plan.
The United States’ top trade official is pointing to Canada’s deepening economic ties with China as one of the reasons Washington is refusing to renew the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement on free trade (CUSMA) in its current form. Speaking to Global News on Thursday, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the White House is concerned Beijing could use Canada as a back...
Canada and the Philippines signed agreements today on energy, natural resources, labour and tourism, during a high-level visit in Vancouver. Prime Minister Mark Carney welcomed Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. to Canada, in the first visit of the country's head of state in more than a decade.
Provincial Government Performance: Results of Narrative Research’s most recent Atlantic Quarterly© survey show that Atlantic Canadians’ satisfaction with their respective provincial government’s performance is low. In both PEI and Nova Scotia, a majority are dissatisfied with their provincial government’s performance (55% and 59%, respectively). In New Brunswick and Newfoundland & Labrador, opinions are more divided between those who are satisfied...
A vast majority of Canadians say it is important (77%) or somewhat important (11%) for Canada to remain a united country.
When the Alberta government announced the makeup of what was to be an impartial panel examining the economic cost of independence, a couple of the names raised eyebrows. Ted Morton would be taking part. The former provincial finance minister was a signatory to the infamous “firewall letter” that was published in 2001 and called for greater Alberta autonomy in Canada...
Alberta was set to unveil more details about its proposed oil pipeline to B.C. coast this afternoon
Announcement comes as Premier David Eby is scheduled to be in China for trade mission. B.C. Premier David Eby and Prime Minister Mark Carney are set to make an announcement Thursday on what the premier's office called "a new multi-billion-dollar agreement that will power decades of job growth and prosperity." The announcement is scheduled for 10:15 a.m. PT.
Mark Carney has only himself to blame, for the controversy that erupted last week when he announced a half-baked plan to buy up vacant condominiums. But the blowback, as strong as any he’s faced since becoming prime minister, may ultimately prove a blessing in disguise both for him and for the country
For all the ills former prime minister Justin Trudeau left his successor to face, the defence file has been a surprising bright spot. What makes this all the more remarkable is the fact that just 30 months ago, the then-head of the Royal Canadian Navy took to YouTube to declare that his team and equipment were in a “critical state.”...
The Prime Minister has been telling a gleaming story about Canada, but is avoiding the dark clouds gathering ahead
Mark Carney’s newest video, released just in time for Canada Day, is a sober affair, giving the nation some hard truths as a 159th birthday present. The climate plans of Justin Trudeau’s years have to be ratcheted back; the world is a dangerous place and trust is a rarer commodity in that world than oil.
How far will Canada’s prime ministers go to avoid headlines with a multimillion-dollar figure attached to the words “24 Sussex Drive”? Embarrassingly far.
It’s been nearly 160 years, and we’ve yet to fully figure out what it means to be Canadian. Just flip back through the archives of this paper and you’ll find a history of hand-wringing about that fact. The constant pull from south of the border, a Star editorial argued in 1976, “requires an answer to reinforce Canada’s will for cultural...
Canada Day is my favourite holiday of the year. I’m serious. Ask my wife. We’ve debated Christmas versus Canada Day many times and I’m holding firm. It isn’t because I was minister of Canadian Heritage at one point and it seems obligatory or because I’m a sappy nationalist. It is because I genuinely love Canada and I love that we...
In my column last week, I focused on why I love Quebec, as well as assessing some of its flaws. I quoted former Quebec premier Jean Lesage, who described his attachment to his homeland and his country as “Le Québec, ma patrie—le Canada, mon pays.” This week, for Canada Day, I thought I would articulate the strengths and weaknesses of...
Shuffles of the opposition front bench – the roster of critics, or as the Conservatives prefer, shadow ministers, assigned to dog the government ministers for their respective portfolios – rarely excite much notice. That has been especially true of the Conservatives under Pierre Poilievre: partly because there are so many critics (83, in the current incarnation, including shadow associate ministers...
Is Canada ready to surf a socialist wave? After the shock victories of three hard-left candidates in last week’s U.S. Democratic primaries, voters and their leaders may wonder whether our country could elect the likes of “democratic socialists” Darializa Avila Chevalier, Brad Lander and Claire Valdez. Chevalier is particularly radical: in a since-deleted X post she wrote “I forgot to...
It should come as no surprise that Canada's prime minister would go to bat for national unity, but it remains unclear exactly how Mark Carney's determination will manifest itself in Alberta. At his end-of-sitting news conference last week, Carney vowed to make the case for Canada and use the summer months to convince Albertans that things are improving, and that...
As many Canadians brace for a Canada Day heat wave, we have good news and bad news for you to ponder while you’re raiding the icepack, AC, and oscillating-fan sections at Canadian Tire. The good news is that Canada’s “technical recession” of a month ago is now, per BMO Chef Economist and Policy Contributing Writer Doug Porter, a technical recovery...
In the 2015 British election, the Labour party campaign team underlined their commitment to keeping their promises by literally carving them in stone. Article content When the leader, the hapless Ed Miliband, showed up to unveil the eight-foot-tall limestone slab, he turned to his spin doctor and said: “Bob, doesn’t it look a bit like a gravestone?”
Canada is buying a sophisticated radar system from our friends in Australia … at a speed not seen in generations, and all that jazz. First, the news: Canada will spend $2.6-billion to procure an “over-the-horizon” radar system that will (hopefully!) allow anything approaching North America from the North—aircraft, missile, or drone—to be tracked at long ranges. The Australian system is...
As a headline writer, you’re essentially in the business of getting people’s attention. The team at the Globe and Mail certainly hit that mark with a recent column titled “SpaceX IPO makes Elon Musk the first trillionaire. Here’s how to properly hate him.” This spurred all sorts of noisy pushback from Canada’s tech elite, with Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke suggesting...
As we approach the Canada Day launch of summer, much of the attention on Prime Minister Mark Carney and the challenges facing his government is focused on the fate of the CUSMA trade deal and Alberta’s future. But there is another event on the horizon that could both deliver disproportionate impact on these ongoing policy and political files and provide...
Donald Trump has made the Gordie Howe International Bridge into a big, beautiful monument to the futility of trying to jointly advance the economic interests of his country and ours. There are so many reasons for Canadians to be furious about Trump blocking the bridge’s opening: the pain to industries that need a faster crossing at the Windsor-Detroit border, the...
For more than a decade, a gray limestone-clad house overlooking the Ottawa River has served as a symbol of Canadian indecision and entropy. The prime minister’s official residence at 24 Sussex Drive had been left to the gnawing of rats because politicians didn’t have the guts to do something about it. Anything.
On Friday Prime Minister Mark Carney announced a national fundraising campaign for the renovation of the prime minister's official residence, 24 Sussex Drive. But is this project long overdue or just another opportunity for political posturing? Political insiders Greg MacEachern, Fred DeLorey and Anne McGrath speak to Power & Politics. The Political Pulse Panel also weighs in on the prime...
The fact the Prime Minister personally favours re-opening the Canadian embassy in Tehran was made crystal clear at a press conference last week
Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke at Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto several weeks ago and denounced antisemitism and stated that, “Unity is not uniformity … our differences are strengths to be nurtured, not risks to be managed.” All Canadians of at least the age of seven have heard similar remarks by public figures, but they do not address the requirement...
With Quebec’s fête nationale of Saint-Jean-Baptiste having launched the province’s pre-election political summer on June 24th, the phoney-war phase of mudslinging and burger flipping ahead of an October 5th election is now underway.
To govern is to choose, the old adage runs. The old adage is wrong. More often, to govern is to straddle. Politicians are disinclined to choose by nature, of course: left unsupervised, they will nearly always prefer guns and butter to guns or butter. But many of the most important issues do not lend themselves to binary, either-or choices. The...
Every good political campaign needs a slogan. Mark Carney may have handed one to the team that will be fighting for Alberta to resist the separatist option this October: “Canada: don’t mess it up.” In a wide-ranging news conference on Thursday, Carney was focused on looking back over his achievements of the past year, but the questions from journalists, naturally...
Province wants pipeline to be designated as project of national interest. The Alberta government is expected to announce details on Thursday regarding its proposal to build a new oil pipeline stretching to the West Coast. In a memorandum of understanding signed by Ottawa and Alberta in the fall, the province was initially given a July 1 deadline to submit its...
Prime Minister Mark Carney's vision of middle powers working with less traditional partners outside the superpower club is already taking shape at the United Nations, says Canada's ambassador. "We have set up a number of different kinds of relationships that work for specific issues," said David Lametti, Canada's ambassador to the UN. "And that's precisely the manner in which I...
The Alberta government has postponed a planned update on its planned million-barrel-a-day oil pipeline to the West Coast. A news conference with Premier Danielle Smith had been scheduled for this morning, but it has been delayed to later in the day. Smith inked an agreement with Prime Minister Mark Carney last fall, and their memorandum of understanding pledges to pave...
The United States Trade Representative Jamieson Greer says the U.S. is not renewing the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement "in its current form" — but the trade agreement will remain in place as negotiations continue. "The United States will continue to engage with Mexico and Canada to address the Agreement’s shortcomings and our trade deficits with these countries," Greer said in a statement...
U.S. trade pressures and Alberta separatist sentiments remain on Canadians' minds. Prime Minister Mark Carney is hammering home a message of unity and connection this Canada Day. Speaking at a Canada Day event in Ottawa, Carney praised "the courage that Canadians ... have shown in the face of a more dangerous and divided world." "If courage is how we must...
As they celebrate their national day, Canadians feel a renewed sense of national pride — a reversal of a stubborn trend that dates back at least 40 years. All it took was an unpredictable and aggressive next-door neighbor whose sovereignty threats and trade war left a lasting mark.
In his yearly Canada Day message, Prime Minister Mark Carney spoke on unity, kindness and strength, as his government continues to face challenges to Canada’s sovereignty, both from within the country, and outside of it. In the two-and-a-half-minute address, Carney celebrated the beauty and diversity of the country’s landscape and people. He stressed that in 1867, when four colonies became...
The issue of the finished-but-not-yet-opened Gordie Howe International Bridge continues to create ripples on both sides of the U.S.-Canada border, and far from the Michigan-Ontario crossing that is its epicentre. Among the more recent statements comes from Mike Levin, the Democratic incumbent from California’s 49th congressional district, serving in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2019.
Today is the day fans of over-the-top talent shows and campy musical performances have been waiting for: Canada is entering the 2027 Eurovision Song Contest. The announcement was made by CBC/Radio-Canada and the European Broadcasting Union less than a week after confirming CBC had become a full member of the EBU. "On this Canada Day, as we celebrate with Canadians...
As Prime Minister Mark Carney attempts to make Canada an energy superpower, he is conceding for the first time that the country’s greenhouse gas emissions will be “higher in the next few years” than projected under the previous government’s plan. The admission came in his second “Forward Guidance” video address to Canadians released on Tuesday. “In my judgement, that plan...
Canada's telecom regulator has launched a formal inquiry into wireless fees charged by Rogers Communications, Bell Canada and Telus Communications, claiming the charges appear to violate new consumer protection rules. In a public notice posted Tuesday, the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) ordered Canada's three largest telecom companies to justify their contentious fees and explain why they shouldn't face...
As AI-generated content becomes cheaper and more realistic, strategists warn disclosure requirements alone won't preserve public trust. As the third-party advocacy group Build Canada becomes the second politically adjacent organization in as many weeks to publicly experiment with artificial intelligence-generated communications, technology experts and digital strategists say the technology’s rapid evolution demands stronger ethical standards as legislation alone is unlikely...
Former environment minister reveals to CBC News why he is leaving politics. Ex-environment minister Steven Guilbeault says Canada is 'backsliding' on climate action as he announced Wednesday that he is leaving his job as an MP. In a candid interview with CBC's Power and Politics, Guilbeault elaborated on why he decided to leave, how the Alberta energy deal impacted his...
Not using the request for proposal process creates the 'risk it will be almost like a sole source situation,' says Clem Srour. But the Defence Investment Agency says the alternate proposal preparation instructions 'function similarly.'
The Conservatives have named a new critic to take on the Liberals' handling of the economy — but not a new strategy, as party stalwart Michael Chong maintained Tuesday the country is in a recession despite data suggesting the economy started growing again. Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has named Chong, an Ontario MP, as the new finance critic in a...
Poilievre's office on Tuesday announced his 'affordability team,' which saw key members of his caucus switch titles
Foreign investors including pension funds, insurance companies and hedge funds are buying Canada’s federal bonds in record amounts, easing the cost of funding Prime Minister Mark Carney’s expensive nation-building projects but potentially introducing more volatility to Canada’s debt market.
Prime Minister Mark Carney says he doesn’t expect any resolution Wednesday to the ongoing talks about whether to renew or review the Canada-U.S.-Mexico Agreement. “We’re expecting a constructive exchange,” Carney told reporters in Kuujjuaq, Que. on Tuesday ahead of an Inuit–Crown Partnership Committee meeting. “I wouldn’t expect any drama tomorrow. I’m not looking for my pen.”...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will attend the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey next week before he jets off to Saudi Arabia -- his first official visits to those countries. NATO members are expected to gather on July 7 and 8 in Ankara to celebrate an alliance-wide increase in defence spending, following years of U.S. pressure for alliance members to hike...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre has shuffled his front bench lineup and has named Ontario MP Michael Chong as the party's new finance critic. Chong, a veteran MP who served as the Conservative foreign affairs critic for the last six years, replaces Alberta MP Jasraj Hallan in finance. Hallan moves to the national revenue file. B.C. MP Aaron Gunn is taking...
The Canadian economy was back in growth mode to start the second quarter, rebounding from a mild contraction in the first three months of 2026. Statistics Canada said Tuesday that real gross domestic product rose 0.5 per cent in April, the fastest growth rate for the economy since July 2025. The result topped StatCan's early estimate for 0.4 per cent...
Alberta’s initial proposal for a new oil pipeline to the West Coast, which it is due to submit to Ottawa’s Major Projects Office this week, will not be backed by any private-sector proponents, two sources say. The province set itself a July 1 deadline to submit the proposal for fast-tracked federal consideration, against opposition from some British Columbia First Nations...
Russian cybercriminals managed to hack into a Quebec municipality's water treatment plant systems and had the ability to wreak havoc on the crucial infrastructure before getting caught, according to Canada's cyber spy agency. In its latest annual report released Monday, the Communications Security Establishment (CSE) said that it detected over 3,200 cyber incidents affecting either federal government organizations or one...
Prime Minister Mark Carney will be in Nunavik today to meet with Inuit leaders along with half a dozen of his cabinet ministers, including those who handle the energy, public safety and defence files. The Inuit-to-Crown partnership committee brings together federal cabinet ministers and Inuit three times a year, with the prime minister attending one of those meetings. This meeting...
A defence technology company that has helped protect Canada's north revealed Tuesday that it recently added another asset to its arsenal: $139 million. Dominion Dynamics claims the cash it raised forms the largest Series A funding round for a Canadian defence company ever and will help the burgeoning Ottawa-based firm expand rapidly. "It feels good ... but funding doesn't mean...
A key date for a critical trade agreement will come and go this week as the United States under President Donald Trump continues to push for concessions from its closest neighbours. The United States is set to officially inform Canada and Mexico on Wednesday its intentions for the continental trade agreement, known in Canada as CUSMA -- and all signs...
The Head of the International Energy Agency said the current geopolitical moment presents a “once in a lifetime opportunity” for Canada to be a “real energy export superpower,” but it needs to move quickly. In a fireside conversation with finance minister François-Philippe Champagne on Monday, Fatih Birol said trust and predictability should be at the centre of Canada’s export strategy...
President Donald Trump keeps saying he wants to walk away from the $1 trillion-plus North American trade deal he negotiated in his first term. Nobody believes he will.
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is shuffling his front bench in a reset that includes putting one of his party’s longest-serving MPs into the key position of finance critic. Michael Chong, who has been the MP for the Ontario riding of Wellington-Halton Hills North since 2004, will move to finance after serving as the party’s foreign-affairs critic for nearly six years...
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith is expected to announce the next steps in her push for a new oil pipeline to Canada’s West coast on Thursday. As part of the energy memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed between Alberta and the federal government late last year, the province had until July 1 to submit its proposal for a new pipeline to the...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans are reviving a line of attack against Democrats heading into the midterm elections: They're communists.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a broad conception of birthright citizenship, rejecting President Donald Trump's executive order declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.
The Supreme Court on Tuesday will rule on the constitutionality of President Donald Trump's order on birthright citizenship declaring that children born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily are not American citizens.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that states can count ballots that arrive after Election Day, a persistent target of President Donald Trump.
Prime Minister Mark Carney's vision of middle powers working with less traditional partners outside the superpower club is already taking shape at the United Nations, says Canada's ambassador. "We have set up a number of different kinds of relationships that work for specific issues," said David Lametti, Canada's ambassador to the UN. "And that's precisely the manner in which I...
Israel’s defence attaché is departing for home and will not be replaced at the country’s embassy in Canada – a sign, experts say, of an erosion of bilateral relations with Ottawa as ties remain strained over Gaza. Colonel Ilan Or is returning to Israel at the end of July, the embassy said. The responsibilities will be taken over by a...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says Canada has no current plans to open embassies in Iran or Venezuela. Anand says Canada relies on Italy to connect with Canadians in Iran but admits using an intermediary isn't the most efficient way of dealing with consular issues. Her comments come after a group called the Iranian Justice Collective said it had heard...
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the situation in Venezuela following two catastrophic earthquakes is "horrific" and Canada will look to expand its humanitarian support for the region. The rare double earthquakes struck northern Venezuela 39 seconds apart on Wednesday, and officials reported Friday the death toll had risen to 920, with more than 3,360 people injured.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand is meeting with her Turkish counterpart in Ottawa today, ahead of the NATO summit next month in Turkey's capital Ankara. Turkish Foreign Affairs Minister Hakan Fidan is visiting Toronto and Ottawa after pitching a strategic partnership with Canada. Turkey is Canada's military ally by virtue of its NATO membership and Fidan has echoed the Canadian...
China’s BYD has emerged as one of the most consequential companies in the global automotive transition. Once known primarily as a battery producer, it is now the world’s largest seller of battery-electric vehicles and a major producer of plug-in hybrids, batteries, and energy-storage systems. BYD’s combination of low-cost vehicles, technological innovation, and control over much of its supply chain has...
For Canada and its allies and partners, the main response to Russian claims of Arctic dominance is to see through their own icebreaker and Arctic economic development plans.
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
The name tags that RCMP officers are required to wear for identification no longer have to display their actual names, a move intended to protect them from digital bad actors. In a significant amendment to the Mounties’ Uniform Dress Manual, regular members now can choose to display only their regimental numbers rather than their names.
Today’s Roundtable discussion began with an email from former Bank of Canada governor and deputy minister of finance David Dodge to fellow Sage contributors. David posed this question and observation: “Can Canada still afford the welfare state we built in the 1960s when domestic productivity, labour force growth and investment were high and the global economic conditions were favourable? In...
I once had a very wealthy colleague who owned an Aston Martin. That’s the four-hundred-thousand-dollar car best known as James Bond’s car. He proudly drove it everywhere. But on weekdays, he drove a Toyota Camry. That more modest vehicle, he explained, was for the office. He didn’t want clients pulling into the visitors’ lot beside an Aston Martin they were...
With the start of another summer, it’s time to think about new beginnings — for political parties! This week, we’re doing something we haven’t done before. Every December, we draft the party leaders we think will be heading into the sunset. Now, in this first post-Canada Day episode, we’re drafting leaders who we say will be newly installed at the...
A new POLITICO international poll finds voters everywhere fed up with their incumbents. Not in Canada. Nick Taylor-Vaisey and Mickey Djuric talk to Seb Wride of Public First about why Mark Carney is bucking the trend, why Canadians are loving the flag again after years of treating it as a loaded symbol, and why Albertans rank among the proudest Canadians...
Canada and the U.S. share more than July birthdays. Between them is the world’s longest international land border, more than $3 billion in trade daily and they’re longtime partners in defence and security. The relationship is now being tested like few times in its history by U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats and tariffs. What do past pivotal moments in Canadian-American...
Mark Carney ran for office promising to spend a whole lot more on the Canadian military. Since being elected, he’s poured billions of dollars into defence, and plans to roughly triple Canada’s defence expenditures in the next ten years. He’s also proposing to grow Canada’s defence industry revenues by 240%.
